‘9-1-1’ Eyes Hawaii As Setting For Potential New Spinoff On ABC

EXCLUSIVE: A new location has emerged as a leading contender to serve as backdrop for the anticipated second 9-1-1 spinoff in the works at ABC from Ryan Murphy and Tim Minear. According to sources, Hawaii is heating up as a potential setting for the offshoot, which, as Deadline reported earlier this month, has been picking up momentum after a lengthy gestational period. It is yet to be greenlighted.

During the gestational period, other places were considered to follow Los Angeles (9-1-1) and Austin (9-1-1: Lone Star), with Las Vegas at one point emerging as a favorite.

That has now shifted to America’s 50th state, we hear. Reps for ABC and studio 20th Television, which is behind the first-responder drama franchise, declined comment.

With its paradise-like tropical setting and many beaches, the allure of Hawaii is clear, and it fits the aspirational tone of Murphy’s broadcast fare, most recently Doctor Odyssey for ABC.

But filming in Hawaii is not without its challenges — most of them financial — which makes setting a 9-1-1 series there a not-so-straightforward proposition. Home of some of TV’s most iconic series, such as Gilligan’s Island, the two incarnations of Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum P.I. as well as Lost, Hawaii is an expensive location that is harder to fit into the continuously trimmed TV budgets, especially in linear TV. Cost was among the factors for CBS’ decision to cancel NCIS: Hawai’i after 3 seasons despite being the #12 most watched non-sports program on broadcast, averaging 7.8 million linear viewers and 10M multi-platform viewers (Live+35).

Fox and producer John Wells recently found a way to produce a broadcast drama series, freshman Rescue HI-Surf — which also features first responders — in Hawaii while fitting into the network’s $3M-$4M per episode range with a cast that does not have big names.

Meanwhile, 9-1-1 on ABC, headlined by Angela Bassett, is said to cost about twice as much. Spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star, starring Rob Lowe, also is significantly more expensive that that to produce, which played a role in its run on Fox coming to an end after the current fifth season. The 9-1-1 franchise was conceived as high-end broadcast procedurals with star casts and elaborate special effects, so to do that in Hawaii without adjustments would be challenging.

As Deadline reported last month, unlike 9-1-1, which moved to ABC after six seasons on Fox, Lone Star is not expected to make the same transition. Instead, the idea is to potentially launch a new spinoff series next season. Overseen by Minear and Murphy, the project is still in the script stage of development.

9-1-1 and Lone Star are created and executive produced by Murphy, Minear and Brad Falchuk, with Minear spearheading the franchise as showrunner. The franchise is produced by 20th Television and Ryan Murphy Prods.